Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Governor John E. Baldacci met with Bangor families at the home of Sally Dobres to discuss marriage equality for the state of Maine.

"In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions," the governor said before the small crowd. "I came to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage."

Video: Joe's hostility laid Behar- Uh Mr. Joe the Plumber, yes you have a right to your opinion. But no you don't have the right to voice that opinion and expect others who disagree with you to shut up.

Religious right groups often place themselves on the pedestal of virtue and respectability. However if one assesses how they conduct business, one would wonder if they actually deserve to be knocked off that pedestal.

Last weekend, it was Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel actually defending countries who torture and execute lgbts

Yesterday, the Family Research Council spoke out against Obama Administration plans to create a national resource center for lgbt seniors:

HHS has no idea how many LGBT seniors exist. No one does! The movement is only a few decades old, and people who are 80- or 90-years-old didn't grow up in a culture where it was acceptable to identify with this lifestyle.

Of course, the real tragedy here--apart from the unnecessary spending--is that, given the risks of homosexual conduct, few of these people are likely to live long enough to become senior citizens! Yet once again, the Obama administration is rushing to reward a lifestyle that poses one of the greatest public health risks in America.

Only a few decades old? Who knew 20 or 30 years was such a short time?

What a crude and totally insensitive remark.

And totally untrue. Via that ugly statement, FRC tried to refute information supplied by the Obama Adminstration as to the number of lgbt seniors:

Experts estimate that as many as 1.5 to 4 million LGBT individuals are age 60 and older. Agencies that provide services to older individuals may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the needs of this group of individuals. The new Resource Center for LGBT Elders will provide information, assistance and resources for both LGBT organizations and mainstream aging services providers at the state and community level to assist them in the development and provision of culturally sensitive supports and services. The LGBT Center will also be available to educate the LGBT community about the importance of planning ahead for futurelong term care needs.

Over the next 25 years, persons in America who are 65 and older are expected to grow from about 12 to 20 percent of the total population, and various estimates indicate that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals will comprise 7 to 10 percent of that senior population. Meanwhile, like the Baby Boomers of all stripes, aging gays and lesbians are radically redefining what it means to be a senior—and how they fit into the larger community. They're coming out of the closet, vocalizing their experiences and needs, and, most importantly, demanding public recognition. "If you go back 40 years, there were virtually no openly gay seniors," says Gary Gates, a senior research fellow and demographer at the Williams Institute. "But now you have a large enough group that people are paying attention."

It doesn't matter whether or not the specific number of elderly lgbts are known.

The point is finding out who they are and taking care of their needs, i.e. a perfect reason for the creation of this national resource center.

But we shouldn't be surprised that FRC feels the need to attack the idea.

Just noting the existence of lgbt seniors refutes the "gays have a short life span" and the "homosexuality poses a great health risk" lies that FRC and other so-called pro-values groups push.

But the meanspirited way FRC went about attacking the idea of an lgbt senior resource center belies its claim to be a Christian organization.

Expressing a belief that homosexuality is a sin is one thing. Actively trying to throwing a monkey wrench into plans to help senior citizens simply because you do not agree with their sexual orientation is entirely something else.

And part of FRC's reasoning for its opposition actually goes against the nature of Christianity.

In the Bible (Matthew 25:45), Jesus said " . . .whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

So now FRC, which claims to espouse the values that Jesus taught, is implying that since the number of lgbt senior citizens are allegedly small, they shouldn't warrant any help from the government.
The organization must be reading that new Conservapedia version of the Bible everyone is talking about.

In its eagerness to espouse its version of "values," FRC seems to have abandoned basic Christian decency, as well as common human decency.

The organization forgets that some of these lgbt seniors could be someone's mother, someone's father, or a veteran.

And isn't it moral to take care of our elderly citizens, period?

In the real world, the answer to this question would be yes. But in the bizarro world of pseudo Christian values that FRC populates, we know the answer is "only if they are not homosexuals."

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 46-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.